It almost seems scarier to slowly deteriorate and die from old age than from suicide.

[GnarlyWalnut32]

Like imagine just slowly losing all of your senses, your skin wrinkles, your bones are brittle, you can't really do anything anymore. Just slowly fading away. I don't know how painful it is to die from old age.

 

[disabledsuicidegirl]

ikr! or to just die by accident or tragedy beyond your control. I've almost died so many times, i wanna control my death

 

[down for the count]

I am 48 and have been thinking about this a lot lately. I feel like life won't get any better at this point.

 

[BlankUser]

Yes, it would be very scary for me to get old. I think I could live until I turn 50 years old max. But if things keep going the way they're going now, I won't even reach my 40s.

 

[scatteredglass]

I've been thinking about that a lot lately I don't think I want to die of old age I think I need to kill my self before I die of a heart attack or some shit

 

[FuneralCry]

Old age is my worst fear. The general human life expectancy is far too long in my opinion. I never want to get old, to me suicide is taking control over this life, and is preventing decades of suffering. I already have health problems at this age, it is bound to get worse as I get older.

 

[Deleted_9cKnXB34QG]

Yes, old age is terrifying - I watched my grandparents slowly wither away and die. At one point both of them became living corpses, shells of their former selves with barely any personality. It's hard for the care takers too.

I recommend you watch this https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10272386/ it's a brilliant movie about old age and dementia.

 

[Victoria]

I agree entirely. I want full control over my destiny.

 

[Busticket]

Yes, old age is terrifying - I watched my grandparents slowly wither away and die. At one point both of them became living corpses, shells of their former selves with barely any personality. It's hard for the care takers too.

I recommend you watch this https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10272386/ it's a brilliant movie about old age and dementia.

I saw the trailer for that at the cinema.
Is it depressing?

 

[Tired Nacho]

Like imagine just slowly losing all of your senses, your skin wrinkles, your bones are brittle, you can't really do anything anymore. Just slowly fading away. I don't know how painful it is to die from old age.

For me it depends, if I start really deteoriting and having dementia like many old people then yeah, but living like my grandpa that is 81 and still rocking it, can even do more stuff than me, then I don't really fear it, but for me it is a really distant thought as I don't even know if I wil make it past this month with everything that is going on.

 

[motel rooms]

I recommend you watch this https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10272386/ it's a brilliant movie about old age and dementia.

Amour (2012), directed by Michael Haneke, is about an old guy who euthanizes his wife after she suffers a stroke that leaves her paralyzed.

" The starting point for Haneke's film was the suicide of his 90-year-old aunt, who had raised him. She was suffering under heavy rheumatism and lived her last years alone in her apartment because she didn't want to be placed in a nursing home. She had asked him for euthanasia. According to Haneke, the main theme of his script is not old age and death, but the question of how to deal with the horrible suffering of a loved one. "

 

[Pisceslilith]

Glad to see others relate to what I've been thinking about lately. I really hate the idea of getting old too, I rather end it all now than die at an old age. Being old just seems so miserable, your own body failing you, you can't do the same things you did when you were younger. It's just terrible. Just imagine being old and having the same issues you have now like mental health issues, chronic health problems, etc.. it's a hard pass for me.

 

[Lost Magic]

I think it would be worse if you love life, have accepted old age but are going to die anyway. I mean there are people out there who want their bodies to be frozen because they are so afraid of dying.

 

[NormaJeane]

Yes, to die of old age must be the worst way to die, slowly suffering to death for many years. I never wanted to get old and this is partly the reason I want to shorten my life.

 

[Trojan]

I'm at that point now. 76 years old with no future. I will control my death when the time comes. Unless, of course, I get lucky and die in my sleep.

 

[Hurt]

That would be the worse thing. I want to die young.

 

[Buffy5120]

Like imagine just slowly losing all of your senses, your skin wrinkles, your bones are brittle, you can't really do anything anymore. Just slowly fading away. I don't know how painful it is to die from old age.

My life is already like this.

 

[KuriGohan&Kamehameha]

Watching my grandfather die was extremely traumatising. I don't think I will ever forget how heartbreaking it was to see someone become so fragile and febrile, losing nearly all their autonomy within the span of a few months.

Seeing how grim his final hours on this earth were left me hollow in a way I can't even begin to describe. Once you witness death, especially in that manner, you will never be able to cleanse those images from your mind.

Aging, particularly in the era of modern medicine and forced longetivity, is one of nature's cruelest forces.

 

[Lost Magic]

Watching my grandfather die was extremely traumatising. I don't think I will ever forget how heartbreaking it was to see someone become so fragile and febrile, losing nearly all their autonomy within the span of a few months.

Seeing how grim his final hours on this earth were left me hollow in a way I can't even begin to describe. Once you witness death, especially in that manner, you will never be able to cleanse those images from your mind.

Aging, particularly in the era of modern medicine and forced longetivity, is one of nature's cruelest forces.

I understand. My beloved mother died cruelly as well. You are right, those images do tend to stay with you and haunt you at times. To be fair, though, it was illness that ravaged her body along with age. I really hope to not see old age, myself, and be done with this cruel world soon enough.

 

[Alwaysbadtime]

Like imagine just slowly losing all of your senses, your skin wrinkles, your bones are brittle, you can't really do anything anymore. Just slowly fading away. I don't know how painful it is to die from old age.

It's really fucking expensive; way more painful and stressful without money. Meds, Aides etc etc....family if one had children who can help...

 

[Bullit]

Amour (2012), directed by Michael Haneke, is about an old guy who euthanizes his wife after she suffers a stroke that leaves her paralyzed.

" The starting point for Haneke's film was the suicide of his 90-year-old aunt, who had raised him. She was suffering under heavy rheumatism and lived her last years alone in her apartment because she didn't want to be placed in a nursing home. She had asked him for euthanasia. According to Haneke, the main theme of his script is not old age and death, but the question of how to deal with the horrible suffering of a loved one. "

In my day a French film called "Amour" would be about some young French guy learning about love from a series of beautiful scantily clad girls. I guess this film,not so much...

 

[inertiaandobligation]

Having seen many palliative care patients up close (and sometimes having to directly care for them), I must say that: 1. the threshold for euthanasia/palliation (is this the correct terminology in English?) is far too high; 2. family is often one of the patients' worst enemies; and 3. their misery shows how dehumanizing suffering is and how taking hold of death is perhaps more of a dignified end.

Does anyone know some "anthology of suffering" based on hospital patients or something of the sort? Sometimes I look at hospital buildings and then at their surroundings and reflect on the very high "density of suffering" they represent in the urban landscape. Certainly many suicides were planned inside their walls...

 

[lofticries]

i saw my grandma on my dad's side reach up to 100. It was not a blessing like everyone in the family was pretending it to be. She had dementia and couldn't even remember some of her own kids. She stayed in bed almost 24/7 with exception of getting up to eat or use the bathroom. With the help of a live in aid of course. The only highlight of her day was getting up and watching tv in the living room. Or going outside to a doctors appointment. Some family members said it was better she have dementia due to the fact that this kind of living would depress anyone.

I refuse to let myself go the same way. I think all old people should have a choice whether they want to continue living or not since life is not gonna get any better for them. Extreme old age is no different than any cancer or disease. in fact its even worse since you will die at a slower rate.

 

[All Things Must Pass]

That's because it is. Too much quantity, too little quality.

I think all old people should have a choice whether they want to continue living or not

I think all people should have a choice whether they want to continue living or not

 

[Green Destiny]

I don't like the idea of getting old, frail, weak and possibly riddled with many ailments. Especially dementia/Alzheimers, it's a terrible fate that I want no part of.

 

[Superdeterminist]

I don't care what anyone says, ageing is a disease. There is no difference between ageing and age-related disease like arthritis and alzheimers - ageing IS the collection of all age-related diseases. It's literally damage to the body, loss of function, and loss of structure. There are no benefits to ageing (biological NOT chronological), and if you can somehow find one, it's definitely outweighed by the costs. People accept it because we've been unable to do anything about it since forever. That should soon change, but we're not there yet. It's a wholly undignified state to be in, from my perspective.

 

[Soulless Angel]

You live to die, that is it, you live just to allow your body to turn to something that is out of your control, from your mind to your look, I have never wanted to live past 40, that's this year, with how my life is now though, I am stuck in this hell,
Growing old is a pointless task, they say old age is good, but to me its only good if you have had a good life to look back on, I don't want to be sitting here old looking back at 80 yrs of life where half of it has been hell, yes half may be good, but some of that half will be my body slowly starting to give up on me. Nah that's not for me thanks

 

[motel rooms]

People accept it because we've been unable to do anything about it since forever. That should soon change

You're my favorite suicidal optimist. Or maybe I just enjoy your profile pic a little too much

 

[Superdeterminist]

You're my favorite suicidal optimist. Or maybe I just enjoy your profile pic a little too much

Ha. The thing is, we (apparently) already know a lot about the process of ageing, it's mostly a matter of developing the tech to deal with it. Aubrey de Grey (pictured) is one well-known figure in the longevity community who advocates for an approach of repairing the damage dealt by metabolism ('rejuvenation') rather than trying to prevent the damage from taking place, since prevention would require a complete understanding of metabolism which we are very far from, and it has been argued that the damage is fundamentally unavoidable.​

He founded the SENS research foundation which aims to develop and promote effective anti-ageing therapies:

We Are Building a Future Free of Age-Related Disease

SENS Research Foundation works to develop, promote, and ensure widespread access to therapies that cure and prevent the diseases and disabilities of aging by comprehensively repairing the damage that builds up in our bodies over time.

www.sens.org

I'll also point you to this channel which posts regularly about advances made in our understanding of ageing:

https://www.youtube.com/c/LifespanIO/videos

It's definitely an extremely ambitious project, and there are no guarantees about how far it can go, but I think it's great that people are trying, because ageing is just a horrible thing if you ask me.

 

[motel rooms]

It's definitely an extremely ambitious project, and there are no guarantees about how far it can go, but I think it's great that people are trying, because ageing is just a horrible thing if you ask me.​

I'm 40, mentally broken & pretty broke, & I'll be dead fairly soon. Ageing is not something that I worry about